I've been using a Merkur Progress for ten years now. The adjustability of the action makes it more versatile, which makes it easier to adjust to different types of blades. I use Astra Superior blades, but also have a stack of Shark blades that I at some point liked, and some Feather blades that are insanely sharp and unforgiving.

Make sure you learn how to lather properly. A good lather makes all the difference, and it also a major factor in making it a lot more enjoyable than the canned Gillette-stuff. I use Proraso for my run-of-the-mill shaves, and have over the years bought a variety of hard soaps as well. My favorite is Marlborough from D.R. Harris.

EDIT: I had one of those starter razors from Mühle in the beginning (Rytmo?). It snapped in two at the neck after I dropped it by accident, after 6 months use. I still have the synthetic hair brush that came with it. Some people go really into brushes, but I've been happy with mine.

Thanks for a great description!

A couple of questions:

A bulkhead fitting should have a rubber gasket that will seal properly without additional sealant

Since bulkhead fittings were suggested, I've been looking them up. The installation seems easy enough, but in all the videos I see I am stuck with a hole with threads on the outside, no one shows what comes next. What are the parts I would need for this? Do I need a join to connect the threads on the outside of each container?

The sides of the container won’t be parallel to the ground, so a straight pipe will put strain on the container that will lead to a failure. You will probably want to use flexible hose to connect the two containers, but two 45 degree elbows at each end of ridgid pipe(so 4 total) can take the strain out once you play with the orientations.

I didn't really understand this. Do you mean there will be strain due to the downward force exerted by the weight of the pipe and water? I'm hoping to have the distance between the tanks as short as possible, and the diameter should also not be too big.

Cheers, I'll look into those! :)

I’ve been doing a worldbuilding exercise for awhile, where I photobash together an image of a solarpunk scene and write some commentary about it. Maybe it’ll help? https://jacobcoffinwrites.wordpress.com/postcards-from-a-solarpunk-future/

Cool, I'm bookmarking this! You seem to have put a lot of thought into this, so it will definitely be an interesting read.

I tend to write with the expectation that things will get worse before they get better. I have a couple reasons for this: 1, I think there are likely some hard times ahead and I want the folks there to have optimistic fiction that makes concrete suggestions for improving things. 2, it’s a useful way to make changes in the setting.

Yeah, I anticipate that this will be the case for me as well. I find it unlikely that we all wake up tomorrow and agree to do everything differently. Too much is at stake for too many people who are well off today. So something big needs to happen that turns a lot of things upside down. And as you say, it is useful as a literary tool: rebuilding from a destroyed state gives a lot of freedom when the new is to be defined, as inertia is taken out of the picture. Not that I don't hope for the former being possible still...

I tend to be a bit more concerned with day to day life, but I’ve been doing a fair bit of research, so if you find yourself looking for ideas on what a solarpunk apartment building, city street, rural homestead, or other location might look like, feel free to reach out, I’ve got tons of ideas.

The story I have in mind is really something that could be set in a lot of different settings. It is not something that occurs because of the Solarpunk world, but merely inside it. I have a fairly clear picture of what things look like, but would always be interested to see what others have imagined. As I said, I've bookmarked your page, so I will make sure to reach out when the details will be chiseled out. I imagine the research for the transition from here to then will take up much time before then.

Thank you, I was looking for this. Helium has important applications in science and medicine, and we cannot afford to use such large quantities for air travel. I'd much rather see development of modern sail ships, possibly in combination with fuel cells.

Well, there is no chance I will have this ready before the election, so I guess I will get to see what happens anyway.

But if your time frame is 50 years, the fascism would have to start soon.

January 20th, 2025? :p

Wow, this is really cool - thanks for sharing! I'll take a closer look at this, I am loving the idea. I have just recently started with some traditional TTRPG (DnD), so this is really good timing in that sense as well :)

Nice, thank you! I've only read non-fiction by Doctorow so far (Chokepoint Capitalism and The Internet Con) - I think many of the things he advocates for are definitely part of a Solarpunk future, so I imagine his fictional works would be worth a read in that regard. I'll add it to my reading list, and I'll make sure to get the humble bundle that I recently saw advertised!

Thanks for sharing your experience. It seems you have found a sweet spot that works well for your life, and you sound like a good friend. I get the impression that you enjoy a kid's company far more than I do, though. I generally get exhausted around them and the stressful lives their parents lead, and I don't actually want to be a part of this. Which is a me-problem, I know. I fully agree with you when you say that they will probably not be knocking on my door when they are ready to be social again, but it sounds like a very one-sided effort to maintain a friendship in the meantime. My friends mostly move out of the city back to where they grew up as well, so just popping over with a meal is not always possible. I have myself moved elsewhere for work now, partly because the number of friends still staying in the city I lived in before had greatly diminished.

I used to go on mountain hikes with my best friend from my childhood once a year (we've already lived in different cities for a long time, so we haven't really been hanging out for many years), but he's awaiting twins anytime now, so it's going to be at least some years before it will be possible for him to even consider spending any vacation days on such a trip. I used to have yearly cabin trips with friends from university until they got all got kids approximately at the same time (during COVID). They now go on kid-friendly family vacations together. I used to frequent restaurants with a fellow foodie. We sometimes still do, but it's gone from maybe once a month to once every two years. It is these kinds of relationships that I miss.

That uncle role is not something I am looking for, though. I am after adult relationships, and it is the loss of these I am saddened about. For the record, I do not blame neither the parents or especially their kids for this change. They do not owe me a continued adult relationship for our entire lives. It is completely up to them to pursue this life, and as I said, I am happy for them as long as this is what they really wanted, and I agree that their kids should be their priorities once they have had them. But so far, in my experience, the kind of relationship becomes completely different. For instance, my girlfriend and I were invited over for dinner to one of my close friends from my twenties, his wife and their two kids. After we left, we were both left with a feeling that we hadn't talked with them at all - we were interrupted constantly by their kids seeking their parents attention. Some parents handle this better - I know others who are better at setting boundaries for their kids and teaching them to not interrupt and wait for their turn, but the interactions with them are still very different - their lives almost entirely revolves around their kids. I was once involuntarily part of a conversation regarding the color and viscosity of kid's shit.

When I reread my original post, I realize it could be interpreted like I want to somehow get things back to how they were before. I know they won't be, and it's not what I meant. I was simply after real stories (i.e. not imagined solutions) of how people in a similar situation, having experienced a similar loss of close friendships, ended up with either new, great friends with a similar outlook on life or anything else that improved that part of their life.

Until your system does anything useful with third party votes or couch-sitting, you go out and vote every time for whatever does the least damage to democracy. But don't disengage from the political world after the election. Between elections, you work to change the system. Find groups that tries to do this and volunteer. If you really care about it, you will need to dedicate your time to the cause, even though it might seem hopeless and may very well be.

I understand your situation sucks and you are tempted to say "Fuck the status quo" and desperately do something different in hopes that something will somehow change. But you know who do go out and vote, every fucking time? The racist assholes who would love to see Trump and his fascists cronies in power. And if that happens, it is game over. You will never get any chance to change anything, except from after a big traumatic event such as a big war ("civil" or otherwise).